Two weekends ago, Bella participated in her first 2 day swim meet. It was a B/C meet sponsored by our team Foxjets, so Bella could attend, even though she doesn't have "C" times. The meet also had something else in it's favor, it was close. For all of you swimming parents out there, this is not new information, but boy do these meets start early. Warm ups were at 7:30am! Two days in a row! Now, we only live 15 minutes away, but there were people at the meeting coming from an hour away. Wow, that is some serious dedication to your child's swimming.
I was a little nervous about Bella's attendance since she had been suffering from a double ear infection and pink eye, only a few days before the meet. The signups for these meets is weeks prior to the event, so it is never easy to plan. Anyway, she seemed ok the night before the meet started, so we were set.
Bella raced only 1 event the first day which was the 50 breastroke. This was an event that she has only done once before and had DQ'd due to her kick. Due to her physical limitations, she has trouble flexing her right foot while doing the frog kick portion of the stroke. The bad news is that she DQ'd again at the meet, but the good news is that this time they DQ'd her on her arms being to far down, not her kick. Always look on the bright side...
The second day we had to be at the pool even earlier, because I had to volunteer for concessions. It was nice to see her talking with friends and being social throughout the meet. Yes, she was the girl walking around with the aquapac bag on her head for her implant, stuck with a magnet on her swim cap, but kids seem to be used to it now and accept Bella for who she is. I am glad Bella accepts it, too. I can only hope as she goes through her teen years, she stays strong and confident about her differences.
So even with having been sick only a few days before and the super early arrival time at the pool, Bella did GREAT in her events. On the 50 back she dropped 10.39 seconds and on the 50 free she dropped 7.39 seconds. The one downside at the meet is that even though she did well for HERSELF (which is how we always judge her times), we learned that at a B/C meet you only get ribbons if you are in the top 8 for your event. That was a bummer, but Bella took it in stride and realized that pride comes from the feeling you get inside, when you know you did really well, not from a ribbon.
The other good news! Even though she still doesn't have C times yet, her Coach is really happy with her effort and improved performance so now she gets to swim in the second lane of her group, which is known as Level 2 bronze.
Here is her swimming the 50 Backstroke. She is in the lane at the far left.
I was a little nervous about Bella's attendance since she had been suffering from a double ear infection and pink eye, only a few days before the meet. The signups for these meets is weeks prior to the event, so it is never easy to plan. Anyway, she seemed ok the night before the meet started, so we were set.
Bella raced only 1 event the first day which was the 50 breastroke. This was an event that she has only done once before and had DQ'd due to her kick. Due to her physical limitations, she has trouble flexing her right foot while doing the frog kick portion of the stroke. The bad news is that she DQ'd again at the meet, but the good news is that this time they DQ'd her on her arms being to far down, not her kick. Always look on the bright side...
The second day we had to be at the pool even earlier, because I had to volunteer for concessions. It was nice to see her talking with friends and being social throughout the meet. Yes, she was the girl walking around with the aquapac bag on her head for her implant, stuck with a magnet on her swim cap, but kids seem to be used to it now and accept Bella for who she is. I am glad Bella accepts it, too. I can only hope as she goes through her teen years, she stays strong and confident about her differences.
So even with having been sick only a few days before and the super early arrival time at the pool, Bella did GREAT in her events. On the 50 back she dropped 10.39 seconds and on the 50 free she dropped 7.39 seconds. The one downside at the meet is that even though she did well for HERSELF (which is how we always judge her times), we learned that at a B/C meet you only get ribbons if you are in the top 8 for your event. That was a bummer, but Bella took it in stride and realized that pride comes from the feeling you get inside, when you know you did really well, not from a ribbon.
The other good news! Even though she still doesn't have C times yet, her Coach is really happy with her effort and improved performance so now she gets to swim in the second lane of her group, which is known as Level 2 bronze.
Here is her swimming the 50 Backstroke. She is in the lane at the far left.
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